In June 2015, the murder of nine black church members in Charleston, South Carolina by a white supremacist as they attended an evening Bible study class shocked the nation. The reactions of some of the family members of the slain amazed many as they expressed forgiveness for the killer. This lecture examines the long history of forgiveness in the African-American Church tradition, stretching from slavery to the present day, to help explain their amazing act.

Albert J. Raboteau is a specialist in American religious history. His research and teaching have focused on American Catholic history, African-American religious movements, and the place of beauty in the history of Eastern and Western Christian Spirituality. Among his publications are: Slave Religion: The ‘Invisible Institution’ in the Antebellum South, A Sorrowful Joy, and American Prophets: Seven Religious Radicals & Their Struggle for Social and Political Justice.

The Lecture satisfies 1.5 hours toward the State of Illinois Cultural Competence requirement for social workers.

FOR THE FIRST TIME in a single lecture, William Miller described and weaved together two major themes from his research career that illuminate the human potential for personal transformation. The first was motivational interviewing (MI), a collaborative counseling style he developed in the 1980s to help clients with alcohol problems overcome their ambivalence about behavior change. He then discussed quantum change—his study of transformations of the “Ebenezer Scrooge” variety that are sparked by epiphanies or sudden insights. Where does quantum change come from? Why do some of us experience it and what kind of people do we become as a result? Miller raised these questions and more as he reflected on our ability to achieve lasting change—and ensure that tomorrow need not be like yesterday.

Learning Objectives

Participants were able to:

Identify at least three components of the underlying spirit with which motivational interviewing is practiced

Explain the evoking process that is a defining aspect of motivational interviewing

Describe key elements of a mystical experience

List at least three common changes associated with “quantum change” experiences

Describe at least four common insights that have become apparent to quantum changes.

Ruth Irelan Knee, A.M. '45, was a founding member of the National Association of Social Workers and one of the first psychiatric social workers. Her work across three decades helped define the role of social workers in the public sector. The Ruth Knee Support Fund for Spirituality in Social Work sponsors this lecture at SSA. Read more about Ruth Knee.

Alumni Spotlight

Zehua Cui, AM '14

"I had no awareness of the existence of social work in schools in China, so I am thankful for my first year internship experience with children at Namaste Charter school, which totally opened up a new world for me. The experience broadened my horizon in terms of the various ways in which we can help children," says Zehua Cui.